through the pain, but ended up collapsing on the court due
to a pulled muscle.
Fifteen minutes were allowed for injury time, but Sachin
couldn’t recover that quickly, so the pair decided to forfeit.
The incident proved very lucky for Anand/Siddharth,
who went on to overcome Dr. Bharat/Ashwani to become
the men’s doubles gold medalists.
This was a fairy tale ending for the pair, who had lost the
first set 11-0 due to nerves, then regained their composure
to beat the favored pair of Dr. Bharat/Ashwani 11-0, 9-11,
4-11.
The mixed doubles finals came down to Cable/Fang vs.
Niraj/Megha. The Thai pair was very aggressive and won
the first set 11-4, then Niraj/Megha pulled up their socks
and won the second set against all odds. The final set was
an epic one, with Megha in particular pushing herself to
the limit, but it wasn’t enough to save the team. Cable and
Fang kept their nerves to win the third set, and with that,
mixed doubles gold.
The final scores were 11-4 , 5-11 and 11-5.
The women’s doubles had a different format: Instead of
fixed partners, the players had a chance to partner with
and against every other player over several matches. It
was a unique experience, with the results declared on an
individual basis.
Thai pickler Fang was declared the winner based on
overall points, with Rekha from India nabbing second.
Each participating player received a certificate, and the
winners were given gold/silver/bronze medals with t-shirts
as mementos.
Thanks to the Bangkok Open, many players from India
and Thailand developed a mutual respect for one another.
During the closing ceremony, I expressed the desire to
set up an Asian Federation of Pickleball—a wish that was
applauded by all players present. •
Special thanks to the folks at PickleballCentral Blog
for their assistance in pulling this article together
(blog.pickleballcentral.com).
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